Seven Hundred Days of Servitude
by Aeternus.Flamma
Summary: Things do not go as planned when Trunks invades an enemy planet on King Vegeta's orders. As a result, he agrees to a deal that will keep his people out of a war for at least a little bit longer, even if it means sacrificing his former life. [Trunks-centric story, AU, not a romance. Brief prologue.]
1. Prologue

_Seven Hundred Days of Servitude_

 _Rated: T_

 _Summary: Things do not go as planned when Trunks invade and enemy planet. As a result, he agrees to a deal that will keep his people out of a war for at least a little bit longer. [Trunks centric story, AU, very little romance if at all]_

000 _Prologue_ 000

The world was dark, _so_ dark. There wasn't a single light around to help guide her, but it didn't matter. She had to keep running.

At this point, her body was littered in scratches and bruises from carelessly pushing herself through the trees and underbrush. She had lost her shoes at some point. Her lower legs and feet were nearly numb from a combination of pain and the cold dirt. But it didn't matter. She had to keep running. She had to get to the ship before it had a chance to take off again.

She burst through the trees, looking like an angry wood nymph—so covered in dirt and leaves and twigs. The ship was just in the clearing in front of her. Its door was open and florescent light illuminated the valley. She had to cover her eyes—it was so bright compared to the darkness her eyes had started to become accustomed to.

The longer she stood still, the more she started to realize how badly her body ached. Inhaling deeply, she forced herself to move once more. Even if she was somewhat blinded, she knew where she had to go. The walk down the slight hill seemed to lag on for eternity. She was so close…

Just before she could reach the ramp of the mostly circular space craft, her legs gave out and she collapsed on the ground, barely able to catch herself before her head smacked against one of the stones that littered parts of the valley. As she struggled to sit up, she forced her tears down. She was mere yards away—the closest she had yet come to escaping. And yet here she was, struggling to make the final stretch. Maybe it was her body's way of insisting that she stay.

The light in front of her was blocked out and she heard footsteps as someone approached her. They were heavy and steady as the person's boots clinked against the metal ramp. She knew that they were in front of her when the clinking stopped and they entered the grass. There was light again, this time from right above her. She could feel the hot energy radiating from the light above her and knew that whoever it was standing there was preparing to attack.

"You shouldn't have seen us," he said to her. She couldn't see his face between the ball of energy in front of her and the spaceship light behind him. "No one can be allowed to see us on this planet."

She dropped her gaze towards the ground once more, preparing for the worst. As she did, something caught her eye. A tail.

 _Of course. Of course I would want to hi-jack a shuttle belonging to the Saiyans._

000

 _Author's Notes: Hiya! Thanks for reading this brief prologue! The next chapter is 17x as long, and that is absolutely not an exaggeration. Chapter One was originally part of the Prologue but it was suggested that I break it into two. I have decided to start this new, novel-length fic with an entirely planned out plot. I will still be working on my other fics, as they have rather short chapters compared to this one._

 _This story will revolve around Trunks and his general POV (so if he isn't in the scene, we aren't seeing what's happening! It is still written in standard narrative format, however, and not second person, just to be clear.) There is a chance for some 'romance' later, but I'm not particularly good at writing that so it won't be very much and it certainly isn't the focus of this story. This will be all about the wonderful Trunks we all know and love!_

 _(And for once, I have a Beta from the start of the story, so there is at least a second set of eyes looking over this for some spelling mistakes, characterization, and plot continuity!)_

 _So, if you're still reading this, please give the next chapter a shot and leave me some feedback to let me know what you think!_

 _Ever Your Servant,_

 _A.F_


	2. Chapter One

_Seven Hundred Days of Servitude_

 _Rated: T_

 _Summary: Things do not go as planned when Trunks invade and enemy planet. As a result, he agrees to a deal that will keep his people out of a war for at least a little bit longer. [Trunks centric story, AU, very little romance if at all]_

000 _Chapter One_ 000

"You can't be serious. This wasn't part of the plan."

"Well what do you want me to do, Gohan? I thought you of all people would be against me just killing her on the spot." Trunks swiveled in the pilots chair to turn and face his friend. Though Gohan was a senior officer in their military, Trunks still held the highest command on their mission. It was a position that came with his title of _Prince of Planet Vegeta._

Gohan pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head before throwing his hands up in the air. "No, of course not. I would never advocate attacking a civilian unless _absolutely_ necessary… But we can't keep her here. If she knows our faces, our names… This was supposed to be a stealth mission, Trunks. We've been on the damned planet for less than half a day and we've already managed to draw attention to ourselves."

"Then the best we can do is keep her nearby until we've succeeded in our mission. She can't go running off to tell someone else that we're here. After that, we can choose to dump her back in the forest and leave. We'll be long gone and there will be no proof of us ever being here, besides her word."

"Don't you see though? If she found us, and she did so without a single piece of equipment, who is to say that we shouldn't be planning for more company? Also, look at her clothes!" Gohan turned and thrust his hand forward, pointing to the young woman laying on Trunk's cape. She was unconscious for the time being, but they wouldn't be able to keep her knocked out for the duration of their mission.

"Her clothes are dirty and tattered. So?" Trunks asked crossing his arms and raising a brow.

Gohan groaned and knelt down, touching some of the ruined fabric. "This is high quality material. What would someone be doing out here, in the middle of nowhere, wearing an expensive dress? She's also wearing jewelry. She's a walking target. She has no Ki, no weapons, no _shoes_. She couldn't have just appeared out here. There are others, there have to be."

Of course, Trunks knew that Gohan wasn't being simply over paranoid. In fact, it made a great deal of sense, as much as he would hate to admit it. But they hadn't been able to detect any form of life in the area, besides a few wild beasts. Had the young woman not appeared, there would have been no reason for Trunks to believe that there was anyone around.

"Since when are you an expert on Solarian fashion?" A third voice joined the conversation, though Gohan didn't bother turning around. Goten was walking up the ramp and into the shuttle with a look of mild interest on his face. "So this is why I felt your energy flare up. That is pretty weird. I know I didn't sense another person around for miles. Seems the planet's defenses didn't notice us."

Gohan ignored his brother's quip. "Did you get the scramblers up and running?"

"'Course I did. If no one else noticed our descent, then it isn't likely they will find us now, while our scramblers are up. So this place really won't get any brighter for a few days, huh?"

Trunks turned back and pulled up the data they had on the planet called Sol. "According to this, we should have approximately forty hours before their defenses come back up and we're stuck here. Until then, yeah, it's all dark."

Sol was an interesting planet. Some less advanced civilizations falsely believed it was a star, due to its bright and fiery nature. However, it was actually a defense system that kept intruders from landing on the surface of the planet. Periodically, the defenses went down, leaving Sol vulnerable to attack. Those periods were often too short for a full scale assault, but Trunks had heard that periods of extended darkness had happened in the distant past.

Trunks and his two companions had arrived just as the defenses were falling. Their mission was to discover what caused the 'black out' and use it to their advantage.

Planet Vegeta was slowly dying. Though they would likely get another decade out of their resources, they were also constantly in fear of attack by Freeza and the Planet Trade. Though their planet may not be worth much, the Saiyans themselves were quite valuable. And yet, there were very few planets willing to accept large groups of Saiyans into their territory, and even fewer who would have allowed for any form of self governing. King Vegeta, to no one's surprise, was not keen on giving up his control over the Saiyan population.

Sol was the ideal planet for their needs. Not only was it well defended, but it also had a plethora of resources. Even more ideally was the fact that there was rarely a full moon, which meant that the Saiyans did not have to worry about their beasts sides inadvertently taking control and rampaging throughout the land.

Of course, Sol was also already inhabited and known for its isolationism. The ruling council had almost entirely ignored any of Queen Bulma's attempts at requesting a diplomatic meeting. As a result, Vegeta decided to conduct a stealth mission without his wife's (or his advisers') knowledge, sending his son to see it through.

"Let's go over the plan one more time and start. Keep the timer running. We need an hour of prep time to take off again, so we can't waste anymore time." Trunks grabbed a small orb that was sitting in a slot on the command consol and stood to walk outside. If their scramblers were up, it mean that they were more likely to be overheard by the unconscious woman than anyone else.

Unconscious or not, Trunks wouldn't risk someone learning of their plan because they let their guard down around a young woman.

000

"It's amazing how clearly you can see the stars, even this close to a major city," Gohan muttered as he and Trunks touched down on one of the roof tops in Sol's capital city, Aurelius.

"There's almost no light pollution. You would think they would have backup lighting for their few days of darkness," Trunks replied. There were people walking on the streets below, most of whom were carrying their own lights ahead of them. They walked in groups, and it wasn't hard for Trunks to see that the citizens were spooked easily. Any noise from an alleyway sent people hurrying along at a moment's notice.

Gohan shrugged. "Yeah… Well, on the plus side, it looks like no one will be paying any attention to the air. We should be good, so long as there aren't any military sensors to detect us flying about."

They had very little information on Aurelius. So few people were ever allowed in or out of the city that their research turned up almost nothing at all. There were only a few memos from interplanetary traders stating that the architecture and living conditions of Sol seemed very out of place for such a supposedly advanced civilization.

Trunks hadn't known what to make of the information beforehand, but seeing the city now, even in the dark, he understood a bit more. Most of the buildings were only a few stories high and had gardens on the rooftops. The buildings that were taller had different architecture that allowed for sturdier construction. Most of the buildings were made out of some sort of stone. A few were made out of marble—but he believed those to be places of worship rather than living areas. The main streets were rather wide, allowing carts and caravans to be pulled by horse like creatures (he couldn't tell why, but they looked a bit _off_ in the dark). Other streets were very narrow and clearly only received foot traffic. There were places for street vendors to line up, though in the dark, there were only a few. Most were selling glowing stones and orbs that worked better than candles.

"There—" Gohan pointed, clear across the city and towards another area that seemed sectioned off from the city. "From the maps I found, that should be where most of the main military is housed. If we're going to find the guides to Sol's defenses, it will probably be there."

Trunks nodded and took off once more, flying high enough that they wouldn't be seen, even if one of the onlookers were to decide to check out the night sky.

When they neared their target, they realized how much grander it was than the rest of the city—which wasn't poor in appearance to begin with. There were more lights around the outer structure which looked as though it was a living space as well as a wall. As far as the Saiyans could tell, it was like a military bunker. The 'wall' separated the city from what appeared to be wealthy estates. They filled the area within the 'wall' and bordered along a steep cliff—which was also well lit, at the moment.

A long bridge connected one cliff to another, creating the only way across the deep chasm. They could hear rushing water, but it was too dark to see. Trunks and Gohan had to wait until a set of guards passed by on the bridge. They were wearing armor, bronze perhaps, and carrying spears. They marched along the stone of the bridge and eventually switched positions with another pair of bronze clad soldiers.

"The bridge is pretty heavily guarded," Gohan whispered from their spot far away from the illuminated orbs, "do you suppose that this…. Is a castle or palace of some sort? I was under the impression that Sol's government was a council based system."

"It is. Or at least, my mother has only ever had contact with a council. I think we're clear. Let's see if we can get in from one of the upper levels."

It took some searching before they could find a way into the structure. It would have been easier if they had gone in from below, but there were guards actively patrolling the area. Trunks wondered if there would have been as many if they had not been in a brief period of darkness. It ended up being pure luck that they stumbled upon what seemed to be a servant's entrance along the back side of the building. It was a few levels up with access via steps to different areas of the building—almost like a fire escape. The entrances were hardly guarded, mostly because there were so many below that it seemed the guards thought it implausible that an intruder would try for such an out of the way entrance.

Once they were inside, Trunks and Gohan were both thrilled and dismayed to find that the building was well lit. The illuminated orbs were set along the cooridors in holders similar to torches. However there were a great deal many shadows which played tricks on their eyes. Near their entrance, they found plain cloaks hanging on hooks, left behind by their owners. They threw them over their shoulders to help cover their Saiyan armor and perhaps help them blend in at least a little bit more.

The Solarians were not so different from the Saiyans in appearance. Though their hair tended to be tamer, they had a variety of colors—Trunks was still the odd one out, however, with his lavender hair. The Solarians seemed to have shades of black, brown, blonde, red, and the occasional dark blue hue. As long as Trunks kept his hood up though, none of the servants they passed spared them a second glance. A few even yelled at them for taking up the entire hallway.

"This place is a maze," Trunks muttered. It was certainly not unlike his own home, which led him to believe that it was indeed some sort of royal building. "Keep an eye out for possible exits."

Gohan nodded but said nothing else as they squeezed against a wall to let a servant woman carrying a large armful of towels scurry through the corridor. They could hear her muttering as she went on, ranting about having to deal with unwanted company.

It was obvious when they had left the _help_ corridor. They walked out into the main section of the building to be greeted to even more light. There were chandeliers lining hallway ceilings all filled with crystal orbs. The floors were marble and there were pillars every few feet. Artwork—tapestries, paintings, sculptures—they were everywhere. So was the presence of guards.

They had to dive into another empty hallway to avoid being seen. They leapt into the air and pressed themselves against the vaulted ceilings, narrowly avoiding detection as a bronze clad guard poked his head down, just to makes sure it was empty. They decided to stick to the ceilings as much as possible, hoping that they would bypass most of the guards. Unfortunately they could only do that in select areas, as some were too long and would make them more obvious if it were brightly lit and someone was looking in from a distance.

At one point, they had been walking down a hallway when a door suddenly opened. There was a rather bright light from the room and voices that echoed out as people started towards the door. Gohan moved to jump into the air and managed to knock over a large statue. He was able to hurry and move it up right again before it smashed into the floor, but just barely. He had to crouch down at the base of the stand it had been on and hope that no one walked in his direction.

The people who exited—men dressed in robe like outfits—turned and left in the opposite direction. In reality, Gohan's hair was still visible. He would have been surely seen, had the hallway not been so dark compared to the bright pulsing light coming out of the door way.

Trunks furrowed his brows and pointed to the door as it closed. Once the last person was out of ear shot, he whispered, "there's something in there."

"What do you mean?" Gohan mouthed back, not risking using his voice.

"It was a strange energy," Trunks replied, "it's behind that that door."

Gohan groaned and put his hands to his head, shaking it in exasperation. Of course, Trunks had decided to pick a room to enter, and their chances of being caught skyrocketed. They hadn't even had a chance to scope out the room before planning an entrance.

Trunks placed his hand on the door handle and looked to Gohan, who gave him a nod. He slowly twisted it to keep the noise to a minimum and pushed it open just an inch. It squeaked a bit, but it was hardly anything more than the normal 'building' noises they had been hearing since entering.

The pulsing light flooded through the small opening. It was difficult for Trunks' eyes to get used to the pattern, but when he did, he found that the area around the door was vacant. He couldn't tell how far the room went on either side of the door, but he took a chance and opened it enough to slide in.

The room was actually a much larger room than he had expected. Where he stood was more like a balcony that wrapped around another room that was two stories lower than the balcony. In the center of _that_ room was an insanely large, pulsing crystal. Gohan crept in after Trunks and shut the door, taking in the great expanse of the area.

The only source of light were a few orbs mounted near the door, almost like emergency lights, and the crystal itself. The two Saiyans moved quietly because they could hear voices in the room below them. Though the balcony that surrounded the crystal was empty, they weren't alone in the room.

"You're positive that this won't preemptively weaken the Halo?" It was a male voice from below. Trunks slowly moved closer to the edge of the balcony and crouched down. He wanted to get as close as possible without being seen.

So far, he had felt very little power coming off of most of the Solarians. There were a select few who seemed to have something of a distinguishable power level, but even then, it wasn't much worth noting. This crystal was the first thing that he had found that had any sort of power behind it.

"No, no," another man said, walking into Trunks's view and waving his hand, "something like this won't harm the crystal at all. We're merely siphoning off some of its charge. Each time it recharges, it recharges to full power. If we started pulling energy while the Halo was active, then maybe it would have caused an early Darkness. The Light should still be fully charged in about thirty hours, and the Halo will be back up and running."

The two men were dressed somewhat similarly to scientists. However instead of coats, they had robes. It looked odd with their pairing of gloves and goggles. In fact, for whatever reason, the term _alchemist_ popped into Trunks mind after a moment. They were using a few systems that looked as if they were computerized which actually stuck out compared to the rest of the décor they had seen in the building.

"Let it be, Caer, we will finish with the council returns. They will want to see each step of the process." The first voice seemed to be speaking to the second, which agreed with him. Soon, two pairs of footsteps went deeper into the room, below Trunks and Gohan, and apparently left judging by the closing door they heard.

Neither Saiyans could sense another person in the room, though it was difficult to tell over the pulsing energy of the crystal. After there a few moments of silence, Trunks braved moving towards a staircase that was led to the floor below.

"We're alone," he said after he got a thorough look around the room. "We should take a look around before they come back."

Gohan nodded and hopped over the railing, floating down towards the ground. Most of the room was centered around the crystal. There were chairs set for possibly observation and a few computerized systems hooked into the base. The base itself contrasted drastically with the crystal. It was a silvery metal, though not very shiny—it looked more like it had been brushed to keep its reflective nature down. It looked very man made, while the crystal simply gave off a more ethereal vibe.

As he landed, Gohan looked up at the pulsing crystal directly. For a moment, it seemed as if he had been entranced by the steady light which mimicked almost a heartbeat.

"This seems to be connected to the crystal—or at least the base. I'm thinking that this collects some form of data from the crystal, or perhaps controls it entirely. If we're able to get some of the information off of it, it may be what we need to recreate one of our own or at least figure out how we can harness the energy," Trunks said and walked around a large piece of equipment. It was set up like a computer, in a way, but it was much bulkier. It had coils connecting it to the crystal as well as coils leading into the walls and flooring.

Gohan had to pull himself away from alluring glow of the crystal to go and head for the door. If Trunks was going to attempt to download information, then he figured he should keep watch to give him a heads up if someone was coming.

Trunks knelt down and ran his fingers over the sides of the system, looking for any possible connection ports. He stopped and smirked. "Perfect. I have something that's compatible for this." He withdrew their data orb from his pocket and pressed one of the slots, popping out a small driver. A yellow light blinked on to indicate that the driver was missing, but he ignored it.

He pressed the small chip into the slot and stood, looking over the device. He thought for a moment that he may have had to do something to initiate the download, but he could hear a humming that indicated that it was doing it on its own. The device was not particularly secure.

"I've almost downloaded the data," Trunks said, pressing a few buttons on the device connected to the crystal. Luckily, he didn't have to do much. Since the device was compatible with his driver, the driver did all of the work for him, pulling whatever information it could from the system. It wouldn't work as sophisticatedly as a thorough hacking would have done, but it was better than nothing with a somewhat primitive device.

"Good because I think we may have company soon," Gohan replied, his voice indicating that he wanted Trunks to hurry.

Just as he was pulling the driver back out, the upper door opened and there were voices.

"—not the first time it's happened. It gives us a perfect chance to some of the work without anyone questioning us."

Trunks pressed the small chip back into its slot in the orb and pocked it, hurrying over to Gohan beneath the balcony. The group that had entered from above started towards the steps and the two of them threw open the double doors with little caution. As their sense of danger increased, their desire to be stealthy started to decrease. They could hear yelling behind them as they sprint down the currently empty hallway. Gohan knocked over the statue again, and this time, he didn't bother to try to catch it.

Trunks and Gohan burst forward and ran through the nearest servants door they saw. They nearly plowed over a child who had been running with a small box but narrowly managed to maneuver around him. The child looked at them in shock and bewilderment as they ran aimlessly, looking for the first door outside.

In the end, they _couldn't_ find a door. The servants quarters and cooridors were so much more a maze than the main area. They did find an open bedroom with a window, however. They broke it open with ease and forced themselves through it. It was very small and their armor scraped against it as they shimmied through, but they managed. Trunks was through first and he took off into the night sky, trying to get as far away from any on lookers as possible. Gohan was quick to follow.

"I'm not sure if we were seen, but hopefully we managed to get out of there fast enough," Gohan said as he looked down at the building below. There was some movement from the guards, but no other signs of alert, as far as they could tell. They weren't trying to close of the building or calling for reinforcements. Instead, it merely looked like they were investigating.

"I don't want to stick around to find out. We need to get back, record our findings, and rest. We won't be able to keep this pace up for a lot longer, I don't think."

Gohan nodded and the two of them took off back in the direction they had come a few hours earlier.

000

"Why is Goten standing there?" Trunks asked as he and Gohan flew up over the area that held their spaceship. "He's not even looking at us. You would think he would have turned around when he sensed us."

They started their descent until finally, they landed next to their companion. "Goten, what's going on? Do you see something?" The was no response. Gohan walked around until he was right in front of his brother, waving his hand inches from his face. There was no response.

Trunks reached over and touched Goten's shoulder. The moment he did so, Goten suddenly sprung to life and grabbed Trunks' arm, locking it beneath his own. It took him a moment, but he then realized who he had grabbed. "Woah! Man, how did you get there! Why are you back already?"

Gohan raised a brow. "Already? We've been gone for nearly twelve hours. We came back to eat and get some sleep before setting back out.

"Are you insane? You've only been gone for a few hours. I looked at the timer before I walked out to take a piss and that was just five minutes ago!" Goten scowled and crossed his arms. He didn't like the look the two others were giving him—their looks of disbelief. Gohan grabbed his arm a moment later and dragged him into the ship.

Indeed, the timer read that there was just under twenty-six hours remaining before the planet's defenses were fully functional again. Trunks and Gohan _had_ been gone for about twelve hours. Goten leaned forward and grasped the edge of the captain's seat tightly.

"I… don't understand. It literally feels like only minutes have passed since I walked outside."

"Maybe it's the darkness playing—"

"Where's the woman?" Trunks asked suddenly, looking down at his thick red cape. It was lying on the floor where they had left it, but she was nowhere to be found.

The three Saiyans all looked at one another before rushing for the door and heading off into different directions. They didn't know how far she could have managed to get on her own, but it may have been far enough to alert someone else of their presence. Each lit up a Ki blast in their hands to use as a source of light as they ran through the dense forest.

Trunks headed in the direction in front of the ship. The woman had come out of the forest on the other side. If she was running _from_ something, she would have continued in the direction she was originally headed. At the very least, that's what he would have done if he were on the run. Gohan and Goten fanned out starting from behind the ship, in case she tried to return to where ever she came.

By the time he started considering going back and giving up on the search, he couldn't be sure how much time had passed. Having been in the darkness for well over fourteen hours total had thrown off his internal clock. He wasn't sure he wanted to risk wasting more of their valuable time looking for a woman who may or may not end up being a problem. Not only that, but after spending nearly five hours just heading two and from Aurelius had taken its toll on his body.

Feeling his body start to ache, Trunks took a moment to sit on a fallen tree. It was large—old. He put his head in his hands and sighed, listening to the quiet air around him.

Except, it wasn't quiet, not entirely.

He could hear the trickle of running water. Either he was close to a stream or he was some distance off from a river. He contemplated ignoring it for a few moments, but then thought better of it. If someone was running around in the dark, any form of running water could be potentially dangerous. With a groan, he stood up again and started to follow the noise as best he could.

It took some time before he found the source of the sound. It turned out that the little trickle he had heard was actually part of a much larger, swifter river. He also noticed that it wasn't so wide that someone couldn't cross it—but dark water always meant that there could be sudden pits that could cause an ill prepared wader to end up a victim.

Trunks brightened his ball of energy so that it covered more area. Being in a slightly open section now, without as many trees around him, he could see much better. He slowly moved down the river, hovering a few feet about the water, half expecting to find a body. When he finally found one, he wasn't entirely shocked.

He was surprised, however, to find that she was still alive.

Their missing mystery woman had clearly gone for a bit of a rough ride down the river, if her body and clothing were any indication. Her slight bruises and scratches were now much deeper injuries, and it seemed she was bleeding from somewhere around he left temple. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he neared her body, draped awkwardly over a rock, and she opened her eyes. She was clearly just as shocked to see him, judging by the way she tried to dive back into the rough waters.

He swooped down and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her wet body and lifting her into the air.

"Let—go—of—me!" She coughed, her voice rough, probably from swallowing a great deal of water. She struggled against him with more strength than he thought someone could have after nearly drowning.

"You want me to let go? Fine. I'll let go." Trunks loosened his grip and she started to slip against his smooth armor. Just as she was nearly out of his grasp, she seemed to change her mind and clutched onto his arm tightly. "You wanted me to let go."

She made a sound of frustration, or something along those lines he supposed, and held onto his arm tighter. He closed his arms around her again to keep her from crashing down to the water in case her own strength failed. "Just put me down, Saiyan. On the _ground._ "

"You're not really in any position to make demands," Trunks replied and slowly started to fly upwards. If he cleared the tree line, he would be able to see his ship easier and head back in that direction. As they climbed in altitude, the woman started to panic. She started to squirm and struggle. Trunks wondered if she had a death wise. "Listen woman, I just saved you. I'm not going to harm you."

"Saiyans are not known for their selflessness."

Honestly, Trunks could hardly argue that, so he only laughed. She stiffened in his arms at the sound of the chuckle rumbling through his body. He considered the possibility that it only scared her more. Had someone like his father been in his position, she would already be dead. Then again, perhaps that was why three half-Saiyans were sent on the reconnaissance mission. They were less likely to start blowing things up simply because they _could_.

Neither said another word as they flew over the treetops and neared Trunks' ship. It wasn't until he set her down that he realized she was violently shivering. Flying through the cool night air may have helped dry her a little bit, but it did nothing to warm her up. She tried to stand for a few moments on her own, but she collapsed to the metal ground of the ship shortly after. Trunks closed the hatch to keep her from running again and then opened the communication line from the ship's main consol.

"I have her. Return to base," he said simply and closed the line again. They mostly maintained radio silence to keep any potential listeners from picking up information.

Trunks turned back and looked at the woman. She looked pathetic. Her dress was hardly more than a slip, wet and clinging to her body. Her hair—long and dark—was hanging in limp strands and sticking to her face. The only thing about her that didn't appear damaged or weak were her eyes. They were bright green and flickered over to him occasionally before looking off in another direction.

With a sigh, he walked over and picked up his discarded cape. She tensed as he neared her and practically froze as he forced her to lean forward enough for him to wrap it around her back and shoulders. "I'd give you a change of clothes, but all we have is armor."

She didn't say a word as she nestled into the heavy cape. She tightened it and buried her face into it, probably trying to warm her cold nose. All he could see were her alert eyes staring back at him.

Trunks immediately went towards one side of his ship and pressed a few buttons. A drawer popped open and revealed a series of small capsules. He pulled one out and pressed it, turning it into a small refrigerator. It wasn't particularly good for storing food, but it did allow him to have a chilled soda when he wished. Traveling had become much more bearable since the Capsule Corp technology of Earth was brought over to Planet Vegeta.

He cracked one open and gulped it down fast before tossing it into a small compactor. He turned and looked at the woman. "Do you want one?"

She didn't respond. She put her head down until she became nothing more than a red fabric-ed mass.

"Your loss, I suppose."

Trunks was _starving._ He was sure that the others would be as well. They didn't have much in the way of food—mostly items from their standard interplanetary travel kit. There was a capsule that held some bread and fresh fruit, but nothing as far as meat. It simply didn't keep well while condensed into a capsule. They would have to resort to their packets of jerky if they wanted something with _real_ sustenance.

As he was pulling out a few things for he and his companions to eat, he heard the hatch hiss as it was released from outside. Gohan and Goten had returned and both were looking more than a little miserable. They had a few sticks and leaves sticking out of their spiky black hair and had scowls plastered to their faces when they looked at the bundle sitting against the wall.

Goten opened his mouth to say something, and it likely wouldn't have been anything pleasant if his expression were any indication. Trunks raised his hand and shook his head, stopping Goten before he even started.

"Let's eat and then we will debrief you," he said, nodding to Gohan. Now what the woman was awake, he was set on not using any names. He didn't want her to be able to go back and tell anyone who her captors were.

Gohan nodded and Goten grumbled as they walked past the woman and to the small refrigerator. Unlike Trunks and Gohan, who both went for sodas, Goten went straight for the beer. His older brother tried to snatch from him, but he turned quickly and chugged it down. Typically they would avoid alcohol during such a delicate mission, but the Saiyan seemed to use it as a way to calm his building annoyance.

The trio ate in silence, and they ate a lot. Their dried food would never really be enough to satisfy their enormous hunger, though, so when they eventually finished, it did nothing to help their mood.

"Stay in here and watch the ship," Trunks said, placing his hand on Gohan. He nodded over to the woman, who still had her head buried. Gohan frowned but agreed regardless.

Trunks waved to Goten, indicating that he should follow him outside. As he started to leave, taking their data-orb with him from the command consol, he paused and looked at the food they had left. They had plenty for their short trip. There was little concern about running out. He took a small loaf of bread and some fruit, grabbed a water bottle, and walked it next to the red bundle. He set it down without a word and exited the ship once more.

The two Saiyans spent over an hour in their debriefing. Goten was rather disappointed that he didn't get to see the city, but after further conversation, they decided that they would return after getting some sleep. Though they found some interesting things in Aurelius and its Imperial structure, Trunks didn't recall seeing any sort of space port.

"They have to have one," Goten said, tilting his head in confusion. "I mean… They have communication with other civilizations. Traders come and go periodically… How could they _not_ have a space fleet? How would they defend off an attack if their primary defenses were down?"

Trunks shrugged. "That's a good point. We may be cutting it close, with how long it takes to fly over to the city, but I think we should add that to our priority list. It could be a very relevant fact if my father were to decide to invade."

"Do you think he would? I know that the threat of war has been hanging around for a while now, but it isn't as if we have a history of tension with Sol. It's all pretty recent."

"I honestly don't know," Trunks replied, looking up a the stars above him. They were different from the ones at home. It would be hard to imagine living underneath an entirely new set of stars if his father were to attempt to succeed in taking over a new planet. "But if Freeza remains a threat, we may not have a choice but to relocate."

000

The Saiyans pulled out their bunks—pods that raised from beneath the hull of the ship—and switched off resting. Gohan and Trunks were the first to get a chance to sleep. They were far more drained after their adventure into Aurelius than Goten, who had seemingly lost time. It was normal to have one person on watch, but it was even more necessary since they had a silent guest.

No matter how they questioned her, she wouldn't speak. She did not say if she had done something to Goten to cause him to stare off into the dark for some hours. Of course they suspected it, but they had no proof that it wasn't a side effect of the planet's darkness. There were too many variables for them to make accusations.

Gohan took the last watch and when the other two finally awoke, he agreed to stay behind.

"I will be fine," he assured them, "I don't plan on stepping off the ship though, if I can help it. Just in case."

"Probably for the best," Trunks said with a nod, "we'll go finish up the mission and then return. We know how long it takes to fly over to the city now, so we will adequately prepare and monitor our time."

Again, they made it a point to keep the information they revealed to a minimum. Though the bundle of red still hadn't spoken to them, or moved much at all, they did see that the food and drink Trunks left for her was gone. She was, at the very least, alive.

Without wasting any more time, Trunks and Goten hurried to eat and then took off, securing the ship behind them.

Upon his return to Aurelius, Trunks noticed that there was much more activity in the streets. More vendors were selling regular items, beyond the glowing orbs. He could smell food cooking, and it made his stomach ache for real sustenance, rather than the manufactured nutrition packets they had been surviving off of since their departure.

He could tell that Goten was feeling the same way based on the way he lingered over one particular area in the city. His resolve may not have been as good as Trunks, but he ultimately left the food vendors behind to follow behind the lavender haired Saiyan.

In the end, they really didn't find much of a space port. Outside of the city, they seemed to have an odd collection of spacecrafts. Trunks recognized a few of them as styles he had seen from other civilizations—but some he didn't find familiar.

"You know, I wonder if they even have a space fleet. Do you think they need one, with their outer defenses? Maybe it isn't something they've focused on," Goten said as they stood and looked over the other ships. They were all gathered in a large field, and each were numbered. There was enough space that they could be used for lift off, but most of the ground looked liked they had never seen any form of thrust, leading Trunks to believe that they had been sitting for a while.

"Maybe not. Maybe these belong to other people who have come to the planet."

"Wonder what happened to them. You know, that caused them to leave their ships behind," Goten muttered and scratched his head before turning away. "Anywhere else you want to check?"

Trunks shook his head. "No. We're cutting it close as it is. Let's head back. I would rather be out of their reach with an hour to spare than try to get an extra hour of recon in."

000

When Trunks and Goten returned, they saw that the door to their ship was once again opened, which was odd because Gohan should have kept it closed until they were ready to leave. A flash of panic set it both of the warriors and they sped up to fly over and land just outside of the ship. Only the emergency lights were on inside.

Goten was running inside first to check on his brother. "Gohan!" He shouted when he saw the other Saiyan draped over the control panel, his head resting uncomfortably on the metal buttons. "Gohan, wake up!"

It took some shaking, but they did manage to wake the other Saiyan. He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut immediately. "You don't need to shout."

"What the hell happened, Gohan? We left you here because you were the one who _wouldn't_ fall asleep!"

Gohan furrowed his brows, trying to remember what had happened. He shook his head. "I… I don't know. I was just double checking everything, making sure everything was fine for launch and… I turned around… It goes dark after that. I have an awful headache now."

"Where's the woman?"

Gohan looked around as if he were just remembering that they had temporarily acquired another companion. He shook his head again and shrugged. "I don't know… I will go look for her. This light is killing my eyes right now." He forced himself to stand and stumbled a bit before wiping his hand down his face, trying to rid himself of the nap he had unwillingly taken. He kicked a wrench across the ship as he headed for the door. "These tools weren't out before. You may want to check to make sure everything's here."

Trunks followed after him but stopped and turned back to Goten. "We don't have much time. Get everything ready to go. We'll be back soon. She's probably on the verge of death. Again. If we don't find her, we'll be back. We should be gone before she has a chance to do anything."

While Gohan walked off in one direction, Trunks turned and walked in the other. Just like before, it was best for them to split up. This time though, they couldn't devote very long before they needed to return to the ship and leave.

After about twenty minutes of searching, Trunks gave up. It was useless to keep looking. She probably ended up in the river again, and this time, he couldn't save her. As he walked back, he saw that the emergency lights were still on and the rest of the systems were still not rebooted.

"Goten, we have less than an hour to get into the air, what is _taking_ so long?" Trunks said, trying to keep his voice even. If he started to have an attitude, he knew that Goten would get one as well and a needless argument would break out. He just needed the facts.

Goten was running his hands through his spiky black hair, looking suitably overwhelmed. "I have _no_ idea. Half of the systems work fine, but half won't even turn on. I can't find any connection interruption."

Trunks brought the palms of his hands to his eyes and rubbed. They were _so close_ to getting out without too much of an incident. "Just keep looking. I'm going to get Gohan in here so that he can help too." He turned on his heel and walked back outside.

Gohan was just coming through the treeline, shaking his head. "Nothing," he called out to Trunks. "I can't find her anywhere. She's still injured though—hopefully she couldn't have gotten far enough to find someone."

While he walked closer, Trunks did a walk around of the shuttle then waved Gohan to the side of the shuttle. "We have a problem."

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked, immediately frowning.

"Goten can't get all of the systems to turn on. You're familiar with this model of spacecraft, right? Moreso than I am?"

The other Saiyan shrugged but nodded, "I suppose… Why? What are you thinking?"

"Are there any access panels beneath the ship?"

Gohan furrowed his brows and rubbed his chin. Trunks could tell that his companion was running through ship schematics in his head based upon the way his eyes rapidly moved back and forth—it was as if he were reading off of a paper. "Yeah. I think there is. It's not a very big one, and it would be hard to get to without putting the shuttle onto a maintain pad first. But yeah, theoretically, there are vital access points beneath the ship."

Trunks dropped down to the ground. It was too dark to see beneath the craft, so he reached out and gathered a small ball of energy in his hand—just enough to illuminate the small space. There was a panel laying on the ground and their missing screw driver sitting next to it. A large handful of wires had been yanked out as well as a few small pieces he could see littering the grass.

As he started cursing under his breath, Gohan started pacing back and forth. "Trunks, we have a problem."

"We sure as hell have a problem—"

" _No_ ," Gohan said, reaching down to grab his prince's armor and yanking him to get off the ground. Trunks was about to snap when he saw that Gohan was pointing out over the horizon. "We should have had at least forty five minutes by our timer, right?"

There was light coming over the horizon. It wasn't much, but it was clearly the first hit of daybreak. The planets defenses were rising once more, and they couldn't get their ship to start. "Shit." Trunks sprint around the ship and into the hull.

"Trunks, I just can't—"

"Grab everything, we have to run," Trunk said before Goten could get too much out. The dark haired Saiyan was obviously confused, but after the briefest of moments, started to gather as much as he could. Most of their equipment was stored in capsules, so it didn't take long.

From behind him, through the open door, Trunks caught a quick flash out of the corner of his eye. Then another. And another. And then, there was a crash against the side of the ship. If he hadn't had such hones reflexes, he may have stumbled into the side wall. Both Trunks and Goten could hear Gohan shouting, then felt his energy flare to life.

Trunks braved sticking his head out, but had to quickly pull back as a beam of light came within inches of his skull. Surrounding the ship were men and women in armor, holding weapons and orbs—the orbs were acting almost as lasers, sending out concentrated light beams wherever they were aimed. Most were currently trained on Gohan.

Though he tried to block the attacks, the blows were so concentrated that Gohan could do little more than protect himself from being severely injured. Luckily, his Saiyan armor held up well to the blasts. However with each volley he took, he was slowly pushed back until his back touched the ship. Finally, the attacks slowed until they stopped all together.

"Saiyans," a male voice boomed. Trunks once again leaned out of the ship to take a look around him, now that the attacks stopped. "You have entered our territory without invitation and without permission. Due to Planet Vegeta's current relationship with Sol, this is seen as an act of war. Protocol dictates that we eliminate the threat on our soil."

Without waiting for any further threats, Trunks burst out and sent out his own series of blasts. It only took Gohan a moment to join in, trying to take out as many of their attackers as they could. The laser like blasts also resumed, forcing the two Saiyans back to back. Since they could not focus on defending themselves, they were taking hit after hit, and many of them in critical locations. Trunks was shocked when he felt the skin on his temple start to sear in pain as he was hit less than an inch from his eye.

Eventually, their attackers stopped. They wondered briefly if it was a surrender. When the dust cleared, the two Saiyans could see that only a few of the Solarians had fallen. Most looked unscathed—and the orbs they were holding were glowing brighter than before.

"Impudent fools!" The same male voice shouted at them, "you are hardly in the position to attack. In minutes, you will be trapped on this planet and unable to leave without our aide. If you have any desire to get back to your own people, I suggest you _pay attention._ "

Trunks looked over at Gohan, who was also sporting a few scorch marks of his own, with a brow raised. They shrugged at one another, equally as confused as the other. Finally, Trunks spoke. "You just said you were going to eliminate us."

The man huffed. "I said that was _usually_ the protocol. However someone has overridden said protocol, and our orders, as it stands, are to escort you to the capital as prisoners of war. Our _first_ _ever_ prisoners of war. Now, will you cooperate, or shall we continue fighting? Keep in mind, we have thousands of reinforcements standing by to protect our planet. There are _three_ of you."

Squeezing his fists in a burst of anger, Trunks growled. Sure, they could fight. They may even get lucky and take out most of the forces on the field. By he knew that the man wasn't lying. They had seen how many people were acting as soldiers—and that was only in the capital city. It wasn't unreasonable to believe that there were more within a short distance.

He looked over at Gohan, who stared back at him and gave him a staunch nod. Whatever Trunks decided, he knew that Gohan would have his back. Trunks glanced back at Goten—his best friend. They all knew the danger when accepting the mission from Vegeta, but Goten shouldn't have come. It wasn't fair for Trunks to put both Gohan and Goten in danger—it wasn't fair to them, and it wasn't fair to their parents, who could be moments away from losing both of their sons. Gohan had a wife and daughter to worry about as well.

 _Father's going to kill me for doing this… but I guess it's better than all three of us dying._

Trunks nodded to Goten, who scowled. Unlike Gohan, who was prepared to follow his prince's wishes, Goten would have preferred a fight.

He raised his hands as a sign of surrender and slowly stepped away from the shuttle. "I am Prince Trunks from the Planet Vegeta. On behalf of my companions and I, I surrender."

From within the words, a new wave of Solarians came rushing forward. They surrounded Trunks and Gohan, then the ship itself while they waited for Goten to reluctantly exit the craft. They held manacles which looked simply medieval. However, once they were clasped onto his wrists and ankles, Trunks realized that they were fully functional and incredibly strong.

As they were led away from their ship, Trunks fought to keep a mask of stoicism on his face. Still, he couldn't help but think one thing—

 _I should have killed that woman._

000

 _Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! I'm trying to give the characters most of their personalities from the show, though perhaps slightly different since they weren't actually raised on Earth in this story. Once again, despite there being a female character, I just want to remind you that this will not be a romance based story._

 _As the story continues, I will be aiming to add in as much detail about the areas that Trunks is exploring as I can without being overwhelming. It is an entirely new world for him, so he isn't likely to notice everything all at once or may focus on things that are irrelevant._

 _I have more written for this fic already, but I am not likely to post to for a bit. I don't want to post everything that I have and then have a long delay because I didn't write anymore!_

 _Please let me know your thoughts/comments/concerns!_

 _Ever Your Servant,_

 _A.F_


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